Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/323985 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] Canadian Journal of Economics [ISSN:] 1540-5982 [Volume:] 58 [Issue:] 2 [Publisher:] Wiley [Place:] Hoboken, NJ [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 747-770
Publisher: 
Wiley, Hoboken, NJ
Abstract: 
Using the German census of the manufacturing industry, I analyze the impact of import competition on carbon emissions per unit of deflated sales (emission intensity). I combine precise information on firm‐level CO emissions with sector‐level trade flows. Looking at the period 1995 until 2017, I focus on the impact of the rise of Eastern Europe and China while addressing the endogeneity of trade flows with an instrumental variable approach. The baseline results suggest that a 1 pp increase in the import penetration ratio caused a reduction of the average firm's emission intensity by approximately 0.3%. This result implies that the rise of the joint East between 1995 and 2017 kept the average firm's emission intensity 6% below the level it would have had in the absence of the East's rise. I do not find strong indication for reallocation of production towards more efficient firms. Finally, I supplement the analysis by examining the effect of export opportunities due to the East's rise. The results indicate that exporting to the East increased sales and emissions, with a small, if any, negative effect on emission intensities.
JEL: 
F18
Q54
L60
D22
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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